FrSky haven't listed the DJT module as discontinued. If you take it out of its case it's almost the same as the DIY module - you can add your own heat shrink if you wish, but I usually go the other way and remove the heat shrink from the DIY. It has two tiny switches instead of the toggle switch - but how often do you really need to alter the toggle switch position? You could de-solder the switches and wire to a toggle if you do need to regularly swap between V8 and D8 modes.

Another way is to leave it cased, but extend the aerial. I get my extensions from ChinaRF on ebay, make sure you get your SMA/RP-SMA right though.

I'm not sure Rich but I think the Xlite talks serial to the module rather than via ppm.
There are alternatives like the multi protocol modules, and others from Flysky etc
In fact Flysky is the easiest to homebrew a module with a cheap A7501 chip from china.